The Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia maintained the day after an attack near the circuit

Published on: 26/03/2022 – 16:52 The holding of the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia was confirmed on Saturday by its organizers, after serious concerns from drivers about the security of the championship. A Houthi attack near the Jeddah circuit on Friday caused a huge fire and a cloud of smoke observed by the pilots from afar. The governing bodies of Formula 1 reconfirmed, on Saturday March 26, the maintenance of the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia, the day after the attack on an oil site near the Jeddah circuit by the Yemeni rebels Houthis. with all the teams and drivers (who lasted late into the night from Friday to Saturday, editor’s note), the Saudi Arabian Formula 1 Grand Prix will continue as planned”, specified the Formula 1 promoter and the International Federation Automotive (FIA) in a statement. “Extensive discussions were held between stakeholders, Saudi government authorities and agencies responsible for security who gave full and detailed assurances on the security of the event” , add the authorities. The pilots, who remained silent after this meeting, subsequently expressed their “resolution to participate in practice and qualifying today and in the race tomorrow”, by the voice of the association (the GPDA). New attacks claimed by the Houthis The attack in Jeddah is part of a wave claimed by the Houthis on Friday, on the eve of the seventh anniversary of the intervention of the military coalition led by Riyadh in Yemen, to support the government in the face of rebels close to Iran. It caused a gigantic fire and a cloud of black smoke visible from the circuit during Free Practice 1. “It may be hard to understand if you have never driven an F1 on the fast and difficult circuit of Jeddah, but seeing the smoke from the incident made it difficult to remain a fully focused racing driver and erase natural human concerns,” the drivers explained through the GPDA. Several team bosses also spoke at the beginning of the afternoon, during their usual Saturday press conference. None betrayed the secret of the discussions the day before but “the most important thing was to be reassured to be safe,” said McLaren Team Principal Andreas Seidl. Drivers “not fully relaxed” “The drivers are not 100% happy and fully relaxed but they have heard the assurances and understood that the important was to stay here to race,” added his counterpart at Ferrari Mattia Binotto. “As F1, what we can do is try to have a positive impact in the countries we visit, justifies the Italian, in unison with the other team leaders. It is our duty, our task. accused of human rights violations, starting with Saudi Arabia, where F1 established itself last season. As for whether this GP has its place, “it’s not us (the teams) who are in charge of the calendar” but F1 and the FIA, recalls Jost Capito for Williams, even if the teams are obviously consulted. “If discussions are to take place, they will take place after the Grand Prix but not during, as long as we are safe,” he said. Just after free practice 2 on Friday evening, the championship organizers had announced the maintenance of the GP despite the attack but the pilots needed more than four hours to discuss it, separating around 02:20 local time without an official announcement concerning their position. The question however seemed settled, several team bosses saying “we will race to the media present. In retaliation for Friday’s events, the coalition carried out overnight airstrikes in Sanaa and Hodeidah, Yemeni towns held by rebels, according to the official Saudi agency SPA. According to a senior Saudi official contacted by AFP on Saturday, the Houthi rebels have offered a ceasefire and peace talks to end the war that has paralyzed the country for seven years. With AFP